Umpire Profile
Don Wu
By Gary Reals
Don Wu has been calling balls and strikes for MAC for almost 40 years. His name may not be widely recognized by some in our association, but Don is very well known by our leadership and assigners. President Dave Maher noted, “He simply goes out and does his umpire business.” Commissioner John Porter said, “He just takes what’s there and goes with it.”
That all ended at the end of last year, when Don suffered a severe stroke. Since then, he has received extensive therapy and medical care. Don’s family members from the West Coast have been out to visit him in Arlington and tend to all of his affairs. One of our own, MAC Umpire and Referee, Craig Hughes, has devoted much time and care to assist in Don’s recovery. “It’s been my honor and my pleasure,” Craig says.
According to Craig, Don was born and raised in Berkeley, CA. Most of his surviving family still lives in the East Bay area. Don played tennis for Berkeley High School and won many trophies. Shortly after attending college at UC Berkeley, Don worked at the San Francisco office of the Internal Revenue Service. Don up and moved to the DMV when he transferred with the IRS to the East Coast. He spent his career working in IT with the IRS and living in the Shirlington area of Arlington.
Throughout his adult life Don spent much time both playing and officiating sports (baseball, softball, and volleyball). According to Dave, Don played a lot of tennis. Don was an avid motorcycle rider and owner. Perhaps his highest level of officiating came in volleyball. That’s where Craig worked many matches with Don as they established a warm friendship. Don worked all levels of college volleyball from youth travel to high school to JUCO to NCAA Division I. As a matter of fact, Don and Craig worked on 4-person officiating crews for the Virginia State High School Girls Volleyball Finals in both November 2024 at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond and in November 2025 at Virginia State University in Petersburg.
Baseball however was near and dear to Don’s heart. Don went to work with MAC in 1989 and is believed to be one of the top 5 longest serving elders in our association. John recalls an early impression of Don: “He seemed to me he was going to be really good at this. He was very smart, a very good teacher and nothing seemed to bother him, and he seemed to be somewhat unemotional.” John even makes an analogy of Don vis a vis some of MAC’s “headliners”: Tom Honec, Chris Segal and Brennan Miller. “Don Wu is just as valuable to the game of baseball. He doesn’t need to be a headliner. He just does his job. Our job is about the kids… that’s what we’re here for.”
It was right around the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, at the end of the holiday season, and shortly after Don and Craig worked the state volleyball championship in Petersburg, that Don was missed at his office. Officials there contacted Don’s family members in California. According to Craig, Don’s brother subsequently notified the Arlington County Police. During a welfare check, Don was found inside his condo in a medical emergency situation having suffered an apparent stroke.
After a month of hospitalization and another month in intensive rehabilitation, Don is presently being treated at the Sunrise facility at Bluemont Park in Arlington. Craig says Don is receiving a trifecta of therapy: speech, occupational and physical. According to Craig, “I take him for some of his medical appointments, and we walk together around the complex, with Don in his wheelchair.” Craig retired just a couple of years ago and, “I just had all kinds of time to give to Don. I always considered him a helpful mentor while working volleyball together,” and clearly Craig felt a strong wish to give some payback.
Don’s brother, Keay Wu, is Don’s Conservator, and has been to Arlington several times, with others in Don’s family, to manage Don’s recovery and to attend to Don’s personal and medical needs. Craig has very much enjoyed working with Keay and all of Don’s family from California. Craig noted that there is a chance that Don’s family may eventually be able to have Don moved out to a facility in the Bay area in order for Don to be closer to them. In the meantime, Craig says it would be very nice for anyone from MAC to stop in and to visit Don. Although he can’t communicate much, it would be very meaningful to stop in for even a quick visit.
More recently, Dave reflected on Don Wu: “We need guys like him. With an army of Don Wu’s, we’d be fine.” And from John: “He’s going to be missed in a quiet kind of way. He may not be the shining star, but he does just what the stars do.” Amen, Brothers.